LYONS -- The sign out front -- "Whisky from Colorful Colorado" -- has been attracting attention for months, and finally the owners of Spirit Hound Distillers have opened the doors to Lyons' first microdistillery.

Founded by four friends who all live in Lyons, the company has its tasting room up and running and it's already been able to get its flagship gin into several restaurants and liquor stores in the area. The partners have a grand opening today.

"We started in pairs," said Spirit Hound's distiller, Craig Engelhorn. "Wayne (Anderson, sales director) and I were interested in starting a distillery, and Neil (Sullivan, vice president) and Matt (Rooney, president) were interested in starting a distillery."

Engelhorn was the original brewer at Oskar Blues, and Anderson was director of sales for the brewery when it became the first microbrewery in the country to introduce craft beer in a can.

"Craig and I worked together -- that's how we met way back when," Anderson said. "He was saying, 'Man, this Scotch ale would make a good whiskey if we could distill it."

Later, Anderson started the Lyons Fork restaurant with his wife, Debbie. Sullivan bought and rejuvenated the St. Vrain Market, across the street from the Fork, as it's known. Rooney runs Aspen Meadow Veterinary Clinic in Longmont but lives in Lyons and was a regular at the Fork.

One day, Anderson and Rooney, waiting for Anderson's daughter to get out of her dance class, were talking about their plans to open their own distilleries with Engelhorn and Sullivan, respectively. A collaboration of the four seemed natural, so they scheduled a sit-down.

"In the Lyons Fork," said Anderson.

"Booth No. 2," added Engelhorn.

Spirit Hound was born that day, in the spring of 2011. Shopping around for a place, they initially were thinking about the Aspen Meadow property in Longmont. But when Red Hill Motorcycle Werx shut down, they knew they had found their spot. They closed on the building in March and have renovated the interior to make it their tasting room. The former repair garage is where the distilling happens.

The four co-founders each bring different skill sets to their positions, Anderson said. As president, Rooney kind of oversees everything and helps keep everything flowing smoothly. Engelhorn is the inventor in the group and it's his recipes that are being used for the gin and, later to come, the whiskey. Anderson handles sales and Sullivan operations.

The secret to the gin's recipe is the botanicals used and the method of distilling, Engelhorn said. One main ingredient is juniper berries, which are picked fresh from the bushes that grow wild along the St. Vrain River in Lyons. Most of the rest of the spices -- coriander, fennel seed -- come from the Lyons Farmette, Anderson said.

Spirit Hound's two stills -- one 11 feet tall that will be used for the whiskey, and a smaller one that's used for the gin -- were both built by Engelhorn. He didn't know much about computer-assisted design or how to weld copper but he learned, he said.

Anderson, meanwhile, has used his contacts to get the gin into restaurants such as Salt and Bitter Bar in Boulder and the Root Down in Denver. It's also available at liquor stores in Longmont, including Twin Peaks and Hover Crossing.

The most excited reaction has been from "mixologists," who appreciate the gin's unusual subtleties, Anderson said.

The gin is 84 proof and a fifth -- 750 milliliters -- sells in the $30 to $35 range at retail, he said.

It was Engelhorn's idea -- hobbyist that he is -- to buy and fix up what is essentially Spirit Hound's vehicular mascot: a 1938 Buick Special Opera Coupe. It sits out front by the sign.

And about that sign: The partners say that while in the U.S. and Ireland, whiskey is spelled with an "e," they prefer the spelling as it's done in Scotland and Canada.

According to the Colorado Distillers Guild, there are more than 30 microdistilleries in the state and more on the way. Just a few years ago there were only three statewide. And Spirit Hound couldn't be happier to be riding that wave, the partners say.

"Everything that's happened here has exceeded all our expectations, and what a kick in the pants to have it go like that," Engelhorn said.

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